


Sugar, We're Goin' Down

by ibreathethroughwords



Series: A Man With a Beard [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Crack Treated Seriously, Dirty Talk, Drinking to Forget, Emotional Confrontation, Emotionally Stunted Adults, First Time, Friends fighting, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy (Theme), M/M, Making Friends Through Jealousy, Marathon Sex, Orgasm Delay, Poorly Handled Jealousy, Promiscuity, Rimming, Slut-Shaming, feels trip, grandpa rex, hot kallus, safe sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 16:01:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11107971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibreathethroughwords/pseuds/ibreathethroughwords
Summary: "Right," Bridger drawled. "I see that blush. It's okay, the beard and the hair thing is getting to the entire base. I heard a married couple over there talking about trying to seduce him with another married couple. You guys were talking about the Return of  Hot Kallus, weren't you? Does he not know about the first time?"Zeb quite obviously covered a jealous look with a grin and shook his head. "Probably not. Were you around for the Battle of Atollon?"He was, but it wasn't as though he'd had a decent view, being in a cell. "I was in theChimaera'sbrig," he explained.Sequel toMonologue. You should read the previous two parts first.





	Sugar, We're Goin' Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pyro_turk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyro_turk/gifts).



> This part is a gift for my wife, [pyro_turk](http://archiveofourown.org/users/pyro_turk), who just turned 30 last week and wasn't pleased about it (she's cool with it now). She selected the sex.
> 
>   
> _Oh, don't mind me, I'm watching you two from the closet_  
>  _Wishing to be the friction in your jeans_  
>  _Isn’t it messed up how I’m just dying to be him?_  
>  _I’m just a notch in your bedpost_  
>  _But you're just a line in a song_  
>  "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" - Fall Out Boy  
> 

Zeb had been acting really strange toward him since Kallus had returned to the _Ghost_ after his previous afternoon's encounter with Lyste. One sniff of him had brought out the lasat's temper, so Kallus had gone to shower, done all the laundry for them both while Zeb was off doing whatever - drinking, it turned out, and so much for their plans for the night - and then eaten alone and turned in for the night. It was unusual and he couldn't identify the source of Zeb's anger, but maybe the humidity was just getting to the lasat. Multiple afternoons had ended like that since they'd arrived here. If the humidity was awful for humans with sparsely furred skin, it must be awful for more hairy beings: he did his best to be patient and understanding. Kallus tried to talk to Zeb when he came to bed, but got no more than a grunt despite his best efforts. 

With a quiet sigh he bid Zeb good night, pushed his back to the bulkhead wall, and tried in vain to go to sleep.

It was out of character enough that his own sleep had been restless. Despite not being able to figure out the source of Zeb's problem, reassurances that it was nothing Kallus had done, and a gruff order to drop it, Kallus couldn't shake the feeling that he'd done something. Rarely had Zeb ever blown him off, and it made his gut twist and ache enough that settling into sleep was hard. That Zeb was taking ages to drop off didn't help him either. There was no reassure background noise that he wasn't alone, only silence marked by the odd angry huff that caused his chest to ache with guilt despite not knowing what he'd done.

Kallus woke up much earlier than Zeb the next morning, gave up on going back to sleep, and very quietly got dressed and slipped out of the room. It was early enough that everyone else was asleep, so he fixed his hair in the refresher, trimmed his beard properly, and put his boots on at the bottom of the _Ghost's_ ramp so he wouldn't wake anyone. He was off-duty today, so he left his jacket in his bunk and took only his blaster, comlink, and ID card with him. 

Despite the earliness of the hour the mess hall was open and teeming with people. Most of them were people he recognized who tried to wave him over for conversation. None of it appealed to him right now: Kallus turned them down with a polite smile and a wave. Caf, a chance to wake up, and then maybe sex and a place to hide from Zeb for a few hours until he could figure out either what he'd done or how to get him to talk about it were all he needed today. Kallus grabbed what he'd come for and took a seat in an out of the way corner so he could keep his back to both walls and watch the crowd. 

He had his caf and peace and quiet for all of seven minutes before someone joined him at the table: Fenn Rau, more than an acquaintance after all these weeks of working many missions together and the man being dragged to the _Ghost_ by the kids (usually Sabine) for this occasion or that (usually to play with whatever new weapon she'd dangerously modified: always fun). "You're up early," he commented, as he seated himself. Kallus appreciated the paranoia of the other man. Rau sat in such a way that if they needed to both of them could draw their blasters, get to cover, or make it to an exit. Neither of them were strangers to combat and they'd worked together enough times to know how to use each other's strengths and abilities. 

"Couldn't sleep," Kallus replied, and picked up his caf for a long sip of it. "Decided to quit tossing and turning and get out of bed before I had to deal with Zeb bitching at me for accidentally waking him up early."

Rau chuckled and leaned back in his seat, caf in hand. "I don't blame you. He was awful the short time we had him for the Mandalore campaign. Hera and I kept alternating sending Sabine and Ezra in to wake him in the morning because he was such a grouch. Neither of us wanted to deal with him any more than they did."

Kallus smiled a little into his caf. "I've made Ezra go into our room and wake him a few times out of spite when I couldn't deal with either of them in the morning. I wait until Ezra gets in the door and then leave for the day."

They shared a chuckle, then several minutes of silence before Kallus finally felt the caf start to do its job and chase away the remnants of sleep still clinging like ghostly chains to his mind and his bones. Fenn was giving him the same appreciative looks he had given him yesterday and Kallus let him, turning slightly in his seat to make it easier for him.

"What's on your schedule for today?" Rau finally asked, leaning forward and lowering his voice a little. 

"Nothing so far," Kallus informed him, and leaned back a little more to let the other man get a good look at the way the tight uniform shirt clung to the well-toned muscles beneath it. "I'm off-duty today with no plans."

Blue eyes bore into him, accepting the invitation to look with no shame. "Have you thought about what I offered you yesterday? That still stands, for as much or as little as you'd like to try."

"I've thought about it quite a lot," he responded. Kallus leaned forward as well, mimicked the master pilot's body language and let his hunger for that well-detailed proposition show on his face. "I'd be delighted to accept that offer, Rau," he said, and shivered at the predatory smirk spreading on the redhead's face.  
\---

Across the mess hall, two familiar faces sat watching them. Yogar grumbled into his breakfast, annoyed by the sight of Agent - no, _Captain_ , he was a rebel captain now, thanks to Grand Admiral Thrawn - _Captain_ Kallus flirting with some ridiculously handsome, older ginger in the corner of the mess hall. Their body language suggested some familiarity with each other, and he wondered if Kallus had cheated on this man with him yesterday. Yogar Lyste was no home-wrecker. He was a man of honor, and he felt decidedly used now, watching the unseemly display before him.

None of the awkwardness that existed between him and Kallus passed between these two men. The touches they traded were so easy, and the former agent leaned right into them, let the older man trail a hand up arm to his cheek. Beautiful, pink lips that had been pressed to Yogar's most intimate of places not even a standard day ago turned to kiss the palm, those entrancing, honey eyes still locked on the other man's face.

It was utterly maddening, completely _vulgar_ for such a public location, and Yogar couldn't bring himself to go over and interrupt it. He couldn't bring himself to look away either. They looked like they'd been together for a good long while.

The feeling of something large looming over him broke his concentration and he jerked himself upright in time to notice a large, purple _thing_ bend down to sniff him before it - _he_ \- plopped down next to him with his breakfast tray. Yogar looked over in surprise, more startled that he remembered this particular alien than anything else. "You - " he began, but the lasat cut him off.

"You can call me Zeb," the hulking, furred beast greeted, studying him with a critical eye.

"Yogar," he replied, returning the look. This one of the Lothal rebels that had been a constant thorn in his side and given him and Kallus no end of trouble. "Yogar Lyste."

Zeb nodded at him, doubtlessly a gesture he'd picked up from his time amongst humans. "So you're the one Kal was with last night," he grumbled, turning a distasteful eye to the pair in the corner. Kallus's hand had vanished, and the pair had put their heads together to whisper to each other. Whatever the conversation was about it was obviously suggestive and needed to be taken elsewhere. Where had Kallus's sense of decorum gone?

Except Yogar knew Kallus enjoyed the risk. He'd been very attentive on Coruscant the second they'd decided they were going to have sex. In fact, despite being in public, Kallus had been very hands on, had said increasingly dirty things to him with strangers all around them, and had Yogar so wound up that by the time they'd gotten to the hotel room Kallus had been utterly irresistible to him. Why change a strategy that worked so well, he supposed?

"Yes. Though I see I'm not the one he has in mind for tonight," he grumbled, and chanced a glance up at the behemoth next to him. What did this one care who Kallus was sleeping with? Had he done the same to the lasat? "What does it matter to you?" 

"Has he always been like this?"

Yogar raised an eyebrow and looked back at the pair. The ginger-haired man had stood and offered Kallus a hand. He accepted it, let himself be drawn to his feet before they both scooped up their caf and left arm-in-arm. "Like what?" he asked.

Zeb stared at the door they'd exited through before turning his attention back to Yogar. "So promiscuous."

"No," he responded, shaking his head. "Kallus has always been extremely discreet in his affairs. The Empire rarely allows time off for anyone. We slept together once, prior to this, because the Seventh Fleet was ordered back to Coruscant for meetings for sector command staff and for High Command, and Agent Kallus came with us to do his five year recerts. During off-duty hours we ran into each other and decided to make the most of it. Before that, I didn't even know he'd had sex before."

It was difficult to read the emotions of the being next to him, save for the ears and the grumpy huff. "Are the two of you a couple?" Yogar inquired, tilting his head slightly.

The lasat shook his head immediately. "Never crossed my mind until yesterday morning when he slicked his hair back with that beard for the first time. The whole base is talking about Hot Kallus again."

He sure sounded upset about it - wait. What? Again? "Hot Kallus?" Lyste asked cautiously.

"Again?" Lyste decided to ask as well a few seconds later.

A familiar young man approached their table and sat down with his tray. Zeb grunted a hello at him. "Hey, Zeb. Oh. Uh. You look familiar," said the rebel who had nearly gotten him the death sentence.

"Hello, Bridger," he glared.

"Lyste?" he asked. Then blinked. Then his eyes widened. "Oh. Kriff. Hi, sorry about that! Did Kallus talk to you about the whole Fulcrum thing yet?"

Yogar blushed and looked away. "I don't want to discuss it."

"Right," Bridger drawled. "I see that blush. It's okay, the beard and the hair thing is getting to the entire base. I heard a married couple over there talking about trying to seduce him with another married couple. You guys were talking about the Return of Hot Kallus, weren't you? Does he not know about the first time?"

Zeb quite obviously covered a jealous look with a grin and shook his head. "Probably not. Were you around for the Battle of Atollon?"

He was, but it wasn't as though he'd had a decent view, being in a cell. "I was in the _Chimaera's_ brig," he explained.

"Well then, have we got a story for you, mate," the lasat said with a grin, bit paw curling over Yogar's shoulder.

Bridger leaned in from across the table, a conspiratorial grin on his face. "We've got _holos_."  
\---

The mess hall was no place to negotiate what might happen in the bedroom, so they adjourned to Fenn's quarters. He had a room to himself with a 'fresher, just down the hall from Rex, in the same section as the other fighter squadron commanders. The two of them wouldn't be interrupted unless there was an emergency as they were both off-duty, and Fenn was well-equipped with the necessary supplies.

He locked the door and pulled Kallus against him for an achingly sweet kiss that was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. This was going to be very different, if the way Kallus's head was spinning when Rau pulled away was anything to go by.

"Stars," he breathed, fingers clenched in the sides of Fenn's flight suit. Crinkles at the corner of the Mandalorian's eyes and the way they sparkled alluded to the smile he was hiding.

"You're quite skilled at kissing," he complimented Kallus, and rested their foreheads together for a moment. "I wonder what other skills you'll show me before the day is out."

There was so much he could show Fenn, but Kallus really wanted to see what he could do. "I'm sure there's quite a lot we could get through in a day," he replied, and pressed forward for another kiss, this one quicker, more passionate. Kallus broke it off with a nip at Fenn's bottom lip. 

The older man shivered against him, and took a step backward. His grip on Kallus didn't waver, and he held the younger man closer, drawing him along toward the bed. "I'm sure there is," he agreed between stolen kisses, "but what would you like to do?" Rau sat down and used his momentum and gravity to tumble Kallus onto the bunk with him, on top of him. It was a great position for Fenn to drag him down for another long kiss that left the younger man speechless and hungry for more. 

"Do you want me to fuck you, Kallus?" Oh, the way the Mando said it made it sound positively _filthy_. Kallus had never been taken before, but he was considering it. He moaned softly and slid his lips over Fenn's jawline. There was no stubble there, and whatever product he used smelled good: clean and fresh, without being overwhelming.

"I've never been fucked," he confessed, and tilted his head to let Rau nip at his jugular. "I'd thought about it, but I've never even tried it with my own fingers."

Fenn's eyes were hungry when he drew back. "I can show you a whole new world, Kallus," he offered, and shifted a hand to stroke over the outside of his thigh. "If you'll trust me to take care of you, we can explore whatever you like: including opening you up with my tongue and fingers before I fuck into you nice and slow with my cock."

There was no disguising the shiver that went through him at that: and he wouldn't mind seeing why Lyste so enjoyed having a tongue in his most intimate of parts. "I'm willing to try it," Kallus agreed, and took a moment to pull the other man back into a long kiss. "Will you allow me the pleasure of sucking your cock?"

If Fenn had looked hungry before, well, now he looked positively starved. "You're so polite, Kallus," he murmured, and ran a hand through his hair. "At some point today, yes. Is there anything else you've wanted to try?"

"Can we start with this and see where it goes?" Kallus asked. There were things he'd been dying to try for years, but letting another man fuck him was pushing his comfort zone as it was. 

"Yes," came the breathy answer. Fenn tugged him into another long kiss, and started working off Kallus's clothes. They continued to kiss as they stripped, and when he had Kallus naked and hard against him, Fenn finally spoke again. "Go use the sonic to clean yourself as thoroughly as you can. When you come back I'll have everything ready."

Kallus did as requested, cleaning himself to the high standards he would expect from his own partners. When he emerged from the 'fresher, the bed had been turned down, and Fenn had dug out condoms and lube. It was for the best as he hadn't been careful at all yesterday. He doubted Lyste had anything, but he had yet to go to medical for a screening and it was best to be safe. That was something he could do after his duty shift tomorrow.

Fenn beckoned him over and Kallus went to him. The man was sitting against the pillows on the bunk, idly stroking and teasing his cock. It was thick, the hair around it very well groomed, which only served to make it look more intimidating. Kallus wanted to get his mouth around it, if the girth of the thing would fit at all. How he was going to get that inside him, he had no idea. _Determination and enthusiasm_ , he quipped to himself, as Fenn settled Kallus so he was straddling his lap.

"Starting without me?" he asked. "That's hardly fair."

A soft chuckle answered him as the hand broke off its touches to join the other in exploring Kallus's chest and shoulders. "I got bored," he explained, blue eyes holding a smile of their own as they looked him over. "How can I make it up to you?"

"I wouldn't mind another kiss," Kallus replied, bending his head. Though he was only a few inches taller than Rau, it was quite a bit more obvious while straddling him like this. 

Fenn pulled him down for another one of those achingly sweet kisses that drew a gasp out of him instead of any sort of heated sound. It curled his toes against Fenn's hairy calves and made him feel a little dizzy. "What else would you like?" Fenn asked. Soft lips brushed over his own: the man had barely pulled away.

Kallus lifted his hands to the older man's chest. It was well-toned, not yet affected by middle-age: Rau kept himself in top shape. He was a little hairier than Kallus was, and some of the ginger was starting to fade to gray in patches. When he'd been about five to ten years younger Kallus wouldn't have found that attractive at all. Now that he was pushing forty it was a much more desirable trait. Pretty little young things had their place, but this was much more of a turn-on.

"May I?" Kallus asked, and let his eyes drift to Fenn's cock.

A grin was his response. "Not yet, Kallus." Lips found his neck then, and hands on the small of his back pulled him forward until their cocks brushed together. A soft noise he might have called a cry were he a man more inclined to be honest with himself escaped him. Kallus wasn't used to being denied anything in bed, though he had refused such things to his lovers more than once to prolong or enhance their pleasure. It was different, being on this side of things: it made him feel vulnerable. If it had been anybody he hadn't fought beside on more than one occasion, anyone the _Ghost_ crew didn't consider to be family (Sabine and Ezra considered him to be a sort of crazy uncle, Kanan a weird older brother, Rex some long-lost cousin, Zeb a brother-in-arms), Kallus would have walked away.

The refusal intrigued him, and the trust and respect he already had for Fenn kept him in place.

"I'm not used to being told 'no,'" he commented around little gasps.

Laughter bubbled against his collarbone. "Then this is going to be a very interesting day for you, but please tell me if I make you uncomfortable." Fenn wrapped a hand around both their cocks and gave them a squeeze. "Can you do that for me?"

"Yes," Kallus gasped.

"Good," Fenn sounded very pleased with himself. "Then this is what's going to happen," he paused to tumble them so they were lying down, catching Kallus off guard as he ended up on his back with Fenn on top of him, "I am going to eat you out until you beg me to fuck you, and you are not going to touch your cock."

His eyes were darker now, his tone and expression more commanding, and Kallus completely understood how this man had come to lead the Protectors at such a young age. A moan slipped out - there was no stopping it - and Kallus decided he'd made a great decision with what to do on his day off. "I'm not?" he repeated, to see what Fenn would do with a hint of a challenge.

A smirk was his response. "No, you're not," the older man responded, and stopped to kiss Kallus again, as though he was unable to resist it. Strong hands grabbed his and guided them to Rau's hair as he kissed and nipped his way down Kallus's body. "You will leave them in my hair until I give you leave to do otherwise. Pull all you want, but I'd prefer you used your nails a bit, should you be coherent enough."

Fenn pushed his legs up a little high, held his thighs where he wanted them, and looked Kallus in the eye as he slid his tongue over his entrance.

He'd never felt anything like it before. Kallus swore, tried to arch his back, and couldn't move. There was a wicked chuckle between his legs and he had to force his eyes open: when had he closed them? Fenn was watching him with a wicked glimmer in his eyes as he repeated the simple motion and Kallus gasped. It was better than he'd imagined it would feel, his nerves more sensitive there than he'd anticipated. He was entirely unprepared for this, and like a predator sensing weakness, Rau pounced. Mercilessly, he alternated between licking light, long stripes from Kallus's hole to the tip of his cock - sometimes stopping to suck at the head or dip his tongue into the slit - and circling it over his entrance.

The assault continued until Kallus couldn't hold back anymore, until even the grip in Fenn's hair and all his panting and gasping in the world couldn't hold back the sound of a whimper escaping him. Fenn stopped for a moment to look up at Kallus, and saw him whimper again when the attention ceased. "Look at you," he breathed appreciatively, hands stroking over Kallus's thighs. Fenn turned his head to kiss over the inside of his left leg, lips as gentle as his hand. "I've not even put anything in you and you look fucked out."

" _Fenn,_ " he panted, because Kallus didn't know what else to _say_ to that. No one had ever said anything of the sort to him.

"I've got you, Kal," he murmured, and lowered his head. This time he spread Kallus's cheeks further apart, and he knew what was coming.

It didn't make it any easier to brace for it. The tip of Fenn's tongue worked into him and he cried out, hands fisting tighter in the Mando's hair. If being breached by that thick cock felt anywhere near as good as this did, he was going to die the second Fenn put it in. He was tight, he knew he was, and it was so hard to relax. Fenn wrapped a hand around his cock, gathered up his pre-cum to stroke him. It helped somewhat, in that it took Kallus more out of his head so he could focus on the sensations. 

"That's it," Fenn encouraged when he pulled back for a moment to take a swallow of water from a bottle lying next to it. "Relax. Let me worry about you."

That was the tricky part: Kallus was used to topping. Worry about pleasing his lovers came naturally to him. Giving up that control was new, but Fenn was doing wonderfully at slowly stripping it away from him. When he brought his tongue back into play, Kallus was relaxed and eager to have it back inside him and close - so blissfully close - to an orgasm. Fenn shifted his hand to clamp it around the base of Kallus's cock, denying him, and fucked into him with his tongue instead, setting a proper pace that made the younger man moan and whimper and _plead_ to cum.

"No," Fenn said the next he drew back. "You'll cum when I'm fucking you."

Kallus was too far gone to point out that - technically - tongue-fucking was fucking; instead, he gave Fenn exactly what the man had said Kallus would. A litany of words fell from his lips, each one of them pleas for Fenn to _get on with it then_. 

"As you wish," Fenn said, pulling away to sit up and reach for the lube. Kallus heard the sound of the bottle being uncapped, and then a cool, slick finger pressed into him. There was no hiding the full-body shiver the sensation drew out of him, or the way his back arched when the finger curled at the right angle to find his prostate and massage it. His mouth fell open in an "O." 

Rau bent to lap and kiss at his frenulum while he rubbed lightly over that spot for a moment, effectively shredding away at Kallus's ability to think or speak. He whined - flat out _whined_ \- when the finger withdrew, only to cry out when it pressed back into him, setting up a slow and steady pace that had it sliding over his prostate every time. It left him as much a mess of gasping, breathy moans as Fenn's tongue had.

It was when Fenn finally got to the fourth finger that Kallus was a keening mess of a man, ass stretched loose and muscles relaxed around the digits sliding over his prostate. He should have cum many times by now, but Fenn had been using his other hand to control how close to the edge he was willing to let Kallus get before yanking sweet release out from under him. 

"I think you're ready," Fenn said at last, withdrawing his hand to lube up his cock instead. 

Kallus shivered. Now he was going to find out what if felt like to have something that unreasonably thick inside him. Fenn positioned himself and pushed in slowly. Warm hands on Kallus's thighs drew his legs up to give the older man a better angle. Lips brushed over his neck and collarbone, dropping sweet kisses there to help him relax. Kallus panted, struggling not to tighten too much around the hot girth of Fenn inside him. Staying relaxed would make it much easier for him to fuck Kallus properly.

Tightening his muscles made it so much easier to feel every inch of that thick cock as it persistently pushed into him. He groaned when he felt Fenn's balls brush against his buttocks and clenched around him, unable to resist it. Feeling all of him was suddenly very important, especially when he hadn't been sure he could take it in the first place.

"It's so thick," Kallus murmured. Needing something to do with his hands, he ran them through Fenn's hair again, and then down his back and back up his arms and over his shoulders.

"Thank you," Fenn replied breathlessly. "Mind if I start moving?"

Kallus smiled into Fenn's shoulder and kissed it. "Please fuck me."

There was a groan against his ear. "You Coruscanti folk and your manners," he complained even as he obliged Kallus by drawing back and gliding his hips forward again in just the right way to draw a moan out of him. "I'm balls deep inside you and you're impeccably polite."

Kallus let out a laugh that turned into a broken-sounding moan as Fenn's cock dragged right over his prostate at what had to be the perfect angle. "No harm ever came from saying 'please' while on your knees," he gasped, quoting some half-remembered song lyrics from when he was younger.

Fenn grunted against him, picking up the pace. "You must have been a naughty thing in the academy."

"It's my specialty," he moaned, and nipped at Fenn's collarbone. "Harder?"

"Happily," Fenn said, and put more force into his thrusts. That was what Kallus wanted. There was nothing between them but the sounds of flesh-on-flesh and heavy breathing for a short while, until a sharp spike of pleasure suddenly plunked Kallus right in the gut. He moaned loudly, fingers digging into Fenn's shoulders, and he swore.

"I can’t. I - "

Fenn drew back a little, pounding into him harder. "Go ahead, Kal. I'm right here. Cum for me, let me see you let go."

He was only too happy to obey. Kallus felt his orgasm in every nerve in his body, felt like it massed in his balls, and then poured out through his cock. Some of it had gotten in his hair, most on his torso, some onto Fenn. Dimly, he was aware of his new lover following him, but it seemed like some distant dream. He tugged Fenn on top of him when the other had finished, and they rested together, panting, sweaty, and exhausted for now.

He'd brought their midday and evening meal up, as Kallus was too wrung out to move after the first round of sex to go get lunch and was literally tied up for the final meal of the day. Such a day of blissful sex he'd never had. Rau was perfectly amenable to making it a regular thing, should Kallus so desire it. He left the man with a tender kiss and a promise to consider the offer as well as plenty of thanks for the most pleasant day he'd had in a very long time and made his way back to the _Ghost_. 

Surely by now Zeb would be calm: Kallus had given him fourteen hours in which to cool his head. He sauntered up the ramp, to the common room and was surprised to find - 

\- nothing but empty liquor bottles?

Oh dear. 

Kallus frowned, but cleaned up the mess. It was best to take care of that before Hera could return and find her ship trashed. The galley was in a similar state, so he cleaned that, and then decided to investigate. None of the other public areas of the ship were trashed, and alcohol was involved. Ezra wasn't old enough to drink, Kanan had been sober for ages, Hera and Sabine weren't messy drinkers, and Kallus and Rau and been occupied. That left Zeb and Rex.

A drunk lasat wasn't necessarily a difficult lasat, so he decided to handle that before taking a shower. He opened the door to their quarters, fully expecting to find Zeb unconscious on the bed, and was greeted by Zeb and Yogar Lyste sitting in the dark on Zeb's bunk. Their arms were folded menacingly over their chests and the single, dim light that was on cast villainous shadows over their faces. 

Okay. It was a strange sight, to be sure, but he'd seen stranger things - more menacing things - during his life.

"What's this about?" he asked calmly, despite a suspicion that he really did not want to know the answer and, in fact, might want to actually shut the door and run.

"How was Rau?" Zeb growled, his voice about as low and dangerous as Kallus had ever heard it. It set his heart hammering in his chest and put him on edge. _Get ready for a fight_ , his instincts screamed at him.

One day he was going to learn to listen to that voice in his head that said, ' _You don't want to know, shut up and run_.' His eyes narrowed at the lasat. "Perfectly fine, thank you," he snapped back in a tone that was just as deadly.

Zeb's big paws curls into fists in front of him and Kallus shifted his stance in the doorway, prepared to retreat. Whatever he'd done, it was bad. "Perfectly fine while he was pounding into your greedy body all day?"

Realization threatened to make him draw himself to his full height, to stiffen muscles he needed to keep loose in case this turned into a physical fight. "My sex life is not up for discussion, Garazeb Orrelios," he hissed coldly. The use of Zeb's full name was intentional. It almost always snapped him out of whatever stupidity he was up to. "What I do off-duty is my own business."

"And so is who you do?" Zeb retorted.

What kind of childish retort was that supposed to even _be_? Kallus gave him a disbelieving look, as though he couldn't believe Zeb was dumb enough - or drunk enough - to have to ask that. It wasn't far from the truth. "Yes?"

"I'm sure the rest of your buck fuddies will be happy to hear it," Lyste slurred. Oh good. Both of them were drunk. How had this even happened? Why did Zeb care? Who had given them that much liquor? Why was Zeb letting someone on probation drink? Lyste hadn't finished debriefing yet! Where was the man's sober escort?

"You have no idea how many partners I've had," Kallus said coldly. "I think we're done here." He turned on his heel, intent on leaving the ship and finding somewhere else to sleep for the night, even if it was a quiet corner on the cold stone floor of someone's office. As soon as he'd called for a sober escort for Lyste, that was.

 _Stars_ , Zeb was fast when he wanted to be, even when he was three sheets of flimsiplast to the wind. Kallus barely managed to duck under the first grab, pivoted away from the second one, but Zeb pinned him to the bulkhead wall of the corridor on the third try when he opted to push forward instead continuing his clumsy grabs. One big paw easily held both of Kallus's wrists pinned to his own chest. "You're kriffing drunk, Zeb. Let me go."

"Didya let him fuck you, Kal? It smells like you did," Zeb murmured in his ear. His tone - anger tinged with arousal - made Kallus freeze. It made him want to _panic_. "Yogar thinks he's some kinda home-wrecker. You and Rau just looked so comfortable together, touching each other indecently in the mess hall like that. Looked like you've been letting him have that tight-looking ass of yours for weeks now. Didya get up early so you could jack him off in the public?"

"Zeb, _stop it_ ," Kallus pleaded quietly, doing his very best to not freak out. "Let it wait until you're sober." 

Yogar was leaning against the door frame, watching them both. His eyes lingered on Kallus's face and posture before drifting over Zeb's body. They lingered longer the lower they drifted before returning to his face. After a moment, the younger man stepped forward and rested a hand on the lasat's forearm and his grip on Kallus melted away. He didn't move. Neither of them did. 

Kallus refused to show his discomfort, though the urge to fold his arms over his chest was strong. Retreating at the first possible moment was still his best option, so he kept his hands loose at his sides and forced his muscles to relax. He would not be the first to speak, as he had no reason to apologize: Kallus glared at Zeb. It galled him that Zeb calmed down for _kriffing Yogar Lyste_ and not for him. His best friend calmed down from a drunken rage for a man that Kallus had fucked twice - _only twice_ \- but not when Kallus pleaded with him to let it go? They were on a _first name basis_?

The glare turned on Lyste, who had the good sense to look away. 

"Fuck you both," he decided, turned on his heel, and stalked off.

Hearing the soft, "Let him go," from behind him only made him more angry.  
\---

He'd ended up in Rex's quarters.

The old clone had found him on the shooting range murdering the hell out of little clay targets and frightening everyone but the Mandos watching him with approving and hungry eyes. Fenn had found him storming into the temple, still smelling of him, anger billowing around him like the smoke from a gas grenade, and promptly dragged him out to the range to let him shoot things. Rex had let the session go a while longer, watched until he'd recognized a particular look start to come over Kallus, and then promptly put a stop to it. 

Kallus hadn't even realized Rex was there, or that he'd been disarmed and marched out of the range. Rau walked with them back to Rex's quarters when he'd realized what was going on, awfully apologetic once inside, first to Kallus with a gentle kiss and a butt of his forehead, and then to Rex, with another butt of his forehead. He'd left them there to go get Kallus a change of clothes and drop Kallus's blaster off at the man's bunk. The anger had been successfully repressed with a satisfying numbness that didn't leave him even when Rex manhandled him into stripping and using the 'fresher to get the sweat and scent of sex off him.

It said more than Kallus wanted it to that he wasn't bothered in the slightest that the old man refused to leave the room while he washed up and dried off. Rau came back when Kallus was toweling off and leaned against the door of the refresher. His eyes were appreciative, but not intrusive. Kallus couldn't look at either of them, Zeb's accusations fresh in his mind. Perhaps it would be for the best if he put in a transfer request to another base.

" _Mhi ne'waadas at dilheya mio ya ohlyaru bal kaysh ne'waadas at epar bal pirur._ 1" Fenn murmured, turning and heading back into the main room when Kallus was dry. 

Rex grunted and heaved himself away from the wall, guiding Kallus forward with a firm hand on his shoulders. Fenn was waiting there to help him dress in a loose shirt that wasn't his and a pair of soft trousers. "Zeb wouldn't let me into your quarters," he said darkly, "nor would he cooperate with me in getting anything for you to change into, so you will not be returning to the _Ghost_ tonight."

His tone also held plenty of concern and no room for argument. Rau had brought an extra blanket from his own room that smelled like him and wrapped it around his shoulders as Rex guided him to sit on the bed. There was food and water there for two people, but Kallus stared at it blankly. It smelled good, and his stomach was growling, but he didn't want to eat. "Eat," Rex said, and squeezed his shoulder. "I'll be back in a minute, just stepping outside."

They stepped outside, but Kallus could only stare at his food.  
\---

"What the kriffing hell is going on?" Rex demanded quietly.

Fenn raised a hand to silence him, and switched to Mando'a. Few here spoke it and it would save Kallus his dignity. " _I'm not entirely sure, but I intend to find out. He's not going back to the_ Ghost _with Zeb this pissed off. I thought he was going to try to rip my arms off. Had some pretty little thing in there with him too, Imperial bearing. Drunk as hell, standing right at his side._ " Fenn shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, thinking. Seeing someone he'd accepted under his protection hurt like this bothered him, and when he'd taken Kallus to bed earlier he had accepted responsibility for him. If this was fallout for bedding the man, then handling it was also partially his duty. Kallus had clearly not succeeded.

" _There was a younger lad yesterday that he was burning to talk to_ ," Rex confided, glancing in at Kallus to check on him. When he looked back at Fenn he could see the former captain looked concerned. All of the _Ghost's_ crew and the ones they'd adopted as family were treated as children or grandchildren by the old clone (Fenn himself included), and he'd taken Kallus in just the same. " _The boy was involved in our failed extraction of Kallus back when he was still our Fulcrum agent. Kal framed him for his crimes. They went off together after yesterday's orientation to talk. Short, young. Dark haired._ "

That there was a history there complicated things, but it gave Fenn enough to work with. He nodded. " _Sounds like him. I'm going back to the_ Ghost. _Either Zeb or this former officer will talk, or I'll find Hera and she'll turn it into an order. Can you keep him here?_ "

" _Yeah. He can stay here if he needs to. Let's see if we can get him talking first. Might make your trip easier._ " It seemed like a practical approach. Fenn nodded, and Rex hit the button on the door, and they turned to go back inside.

Fenn frowned. Kallus hadn't even touched the water. "Kallus, is there anything you need for the night from your quarters? I'm going to try again."

The younger man shrugged and drew into himself. "A clean uniform if they'll let you have it. My datapad. I have a duty shift in the morning."

His voice was trembling, and Fenn didn't miss the way his arms and hands shook either. "Kallus - "

"Go through Hera, if you have to," Kallus said, finally looking up at him. "Garazeb may be a drunken idiot right now, but he has no death wish."

 _Garazeb_. He wasn't shaking out of fear, Fenn realized. No, Kallus was actively suppressing anger that was threatening to turn into rage. Rex exchanged a glance with him, eyes narrowed while Fenn's were wide. Only once had either of them heard Kallus use Zeb's full name, and the lasat had deserved it then. He'd avoided dying by all of three point zero seven something seconds, suffered a nasty injured that kept him unconscious for days, and then been a right _buhr_ 2 about it when he'd woken up. Kallus had returned from a solo mission to find Zeb arguing with the base's CMO and proceeded to give him a dressing down the likes of which had impressed even Rex.

"Can we have a minute?" Fenn asked Rex. The clone nodded and stepped out, but Fenn didn't think for a second he wasn't going to try to listen, the old scuttlebutt. 

The older man sat down next to Kallus for a minute, and turned his head to look at him. "Is there anything I need to know before I go back there?"

Kallus bit his lower lip and looked away. "Was there a young man there besides Ezra? Dark-haired?"

"Yes. Hovered at Zeb's arm the entire time and glared at me like I was the most villainous _laosr_ 3 in the galaxy."

"I've slept with him before. Once on Coruscant several months ago and once yesterday afternoon. He seems to think he owns me now or something and Zeb is acting incredibly strange about it as well." Kallus sighed softly, and his guard dropped for a moment. The man looked more stressed than when Hera had first snatched his escape pod out from under the _Chimaera_. Fenn had glimpsed him when they'd been swapping ships around, balancing the injured out amongst medical supplies, and he'd had to briefly transfer to the _Ghost_ for a conference with Sabine's mother.

Kallus looked like one strong breeze would drop him then. He looked a little better now, but only just.

"Have you spoken to Zeb about it?" he prompted, and casually picked up the glass of water, handing it off to Kallus while he was distracted by the question. It worked. The ex-ISB agent took it, studied it while he gathered his thoughts, then took a long swallow of the water. Fenn was pleased enough with that. Now if could get him to nibble a little bit to bring his mood up before he went to sleep for the night, he'd be satisfied with Kallus's physical healthy.

"I wanted to talk to Zeb last night but he wasn't having it. I tried again today and it didn't go well. They were waiting for me in mine and Zeb's bunk, sitting in the dark." Kallus shifted closer to him and took another sip of the water. Fenn lifted an arm to rub his back. Now that he had him talking and drinking he was determined to get the whole story out of the man. "I tried to leave the ship, but he pinned me to the wall outside my bunk."

Fenn tensed immediately, growling out a curse in Mando'a. If Zeb had harmed so much as a hair on his friend's head, he -

"Nothing happened," Kallus said sharply, cutting into his thoughts. "Not like you're thinking."

The younger man huffed out a sigh and leaned more against him. Fenn forced himself to relax, cursing the lapse in control. "Then what did happen?" he asked, tone not quite as tense as he felt, though it was a near thing. 

Kallus tensed, and set down the glass. His hands, freckled and pale, were curled into fists. "He taunted me, before that, and after, about you. Asked if I'd gotten up early to jack you off in the mess, if I was letting you take me. More or less accused me of being a slut, despite me reminding him that my sex life is none of his business."

Fenn's hand stilled on his back. Zeb was jealous. He could used that. "Is that all?"

When the younger man tensed up to the point that he was shaking, that Fenn had to force those lovely, freckled hands to unclench and tilt Kallus's head up so he could see him, he knew it had to be bad. The amount of anger - of _jealousy_ \- in Kallus's eyes stole his breath away. Kallus was a gorgeous man all the time, but trembling with enough anger to destroy worlds, he was stunning. "He wouldn't let me go, Fenn. Not even when I _pleaded_ with him. But when Lyste touched his arm and told him that was enough? Garazeb back off right away."

Fenn's eyes narrowed. To think Zeb would allow his own jealousy to hurt his best friend and a member of the _Ghost's_ family in this way instead of talking this over as adults - it was unacceptable. It would be handled. "Understood," he said, and he leaned forward to brush a kiss over Kallus's forehead before standing. "I'll be back."  
\---

Kallus was well beyond buzzed when Fenn returned looking smug and slightly worse for wear, but carrying Kallus's things. Rex and Kallus both raised an eyebrow at the sight of him. "Alcohol, Rex?" Fenn asked with a raised eyebrow as the door slid shut behind him.

"I'm not as angry right now," Kallus defended it as he stood to relieve Fenn of his armful and look him over. "You two fought."

There was a disapproving frown on his face, despite the triumphant grin on Fenn's face and the supportive grin on Rex's. Kallus examined his bruises and small cuts carefully before he relented to Fenn gently pushing him away and allowed himself to be guided into sitting on the bed once more. "Yes," Fenn confirmed. "Zeb is behaving like a drunken, angry toddler and cannot be reasoned with right now so I handed him his ass and his pride and then took what you needed from your room."

The memory of that young man - so young - half-naked and asleep in Zeb's bunk in Kallus's own room made him tighten his jaw enough that Kallus passed the bottle to him. "What happened?" Rex asked. "You were proud of yourself a moment ago and now you're more pissed off than a rancor that just had its food yanked away."

"That officer - Lyste - was in Zeb's bunk, passed out. Half-naked. _Tah'da pikuhriyetr_ 4," Fenn spat, and took a long swallow from the bottle as Rex translated the Mando'a - _fucking hypocrite_ \- for Kallus.

"The nerve of him," Kallus grumbled, and took the bottle back for another swallow before passing it off to Rex. "That's my room too, that smelly sack of Hutt shit. I do his laundry most of the time and he gets pissy over - " He stopped his ranting and turned his sharp eyes on Fenn, arching a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "Did he say anything about why he was so damn angry?"

Fenn inhaled, opened his mouth to speak, but the words didn't come out right away. "No," he said carefully. "He didn't explain himself at all."

Kallus narrowed his eyes at Fenn and leaned forward. Even near to drunk, it was difficult to sneak anything passed the man. Rex wisely took the bottle and scooted his chair away. Inwardly cursing himself, Fenn stood to leave. "I should go," he said to excuse himself, but Kallus grabbed his wrist in a vise-like grip, and tugged him back down.

"Stay a moment longer," he said casually, tone charming and sweet. It was such a sharp contrast to the way his eyes flashed with anger, how his jaw tightened just so. "You didn't need him to say anything, did you?"

"Kallus, I don't want to make this worse."

His jaw tightened further. Frustration. Further betrayal. It wasn't anger causing that glimmer in his eyes anymore, but tears. Kallus released his wrist, and withdrew, eyes on the pile of things that Fenn had brought. The sharp, familiar stab of guilt cut into Fenn, and he sank back down onto the bed and ran a hand through his hair. 

"Do you really not see it, Kallus, or are you being disingenuous?" Fenn's tone was soft, and he looked down at Kallus's trembling hands for a moment before resting one of his own over the other man's. "You slept with someone, came back smelling like him, slept with me, and Zeb's gotten progressively meaner about it. You're a brilliant man, you know what emotion that is."

"It doesn't make sense for him to be jealous," Kallus replied after a moment with a slow, negative shake of his head. "He's never shown an ounce of interest in me like that before yesterday. It doesn't matter either. Jealous or not, there's no fucking excuse for his bloody atrocious behavior. I don't care what the pfassk got into him, Garazeb has no kriffing business making comments regarding my sex life. He wasn't part of it before and he most definitely won't be part of it while he's acting like such a - " Kallus paused, seemed to be fishing for the right word, " - _boa see kaheka_ 5!"

Rex and Fenn raised an eyebrow at the swearing, then the other at the switch to Huttese. Hearing any invectives from Kallus was rare, but the steady change in pitch of Kallus's voice from a low growl to a higher tone was not. He was stressed and angry. This promised to be amusing. Best to let him rant, they decided via shrugging at each other and an exchange of the half-full bottle. They passed it back and forth, letting him go.

When Kallus was done, he stood and took the bottle back from Rex, draining the remaining quarter of it in one long swallow. "Feel better?" Rex asked, chuckling merrily at Kallus, who set the bottle aside and swayed a little on his feet.

"Actually, yes, thank you." Kallus looked surprised by that. "It was cathartic."

"Do you think you can sleep now?" Fenn stepped closer to him and brushed the back of his fingers over Kallus's face. It was impossible to resist those flushed cheeks.

Kallus nodded and leaned into the touch. "You're not staying?"

Rex saved him by answering that one. "He'll be right down the hall, but it might make things worse if you two share a bunk tonight."

"Stupid logic," Fenn mumbled low enough for only Kallus to hear. It got a small smile out of him. Kallus tilted his head down a little and Fenn took the cue to meet halfway for a kiss.

"Okay, that's enough, boys," Rex declared. He took Fenn by the upper arm. "You can clean your blaster in your own quarters, Rau."

Kallus shyly ducked his head, but swatted Rex's arm all the same. Fenn chuckled as he saw himself out and hoped that at least for now, Kallus would be able to get some sleep.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Somebody choose his next partner.** I'm having way too much fun with this "crack treated seriously" thing.
> 
> [pyro_turk](http://archiveofourown.org/users/pyro_turk) and [tauntaun](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tauntaun) are egging this shit on. It's like 35/65. I mean, I could say no, I guess, but my wife has these big blue eyes and then she says, "Please," and I can't say no. 
> 
> Sorry for any typos, btw. I edited this after Waltz, and yeah. That's 24,754 words.  
> \---
> 
> 1\. We need to discuss this outside, and he needs to eat and drink: I opted to use _mio ya_ \- the pronoun - instead of _ibic_. I trust Rex would know it's a substitute for "the situation" and Rau is being a bit vague because he doesn't know if Kallus speaks Mando'a. I also used _ohlyaru_ instead of _eso oi_ for outside. _Eso oi_ is when you're using outside as prefix. _Ohlyaru_ seems to be mean outside as a noun.  
>  2\. Cock: Like a penis.  
> 3\. Scum: Almost pronounced like loser. Please don't teach this to Donald Trump. He's not cool enough to learn Mando'a. It might distract him from his military coup he's about to attempt though. Hmm...  
> 4\. Fucking hypocrite: Tah'da is the expletive, not the verb.  
> 5\. Bag of dicks: Huttese


End file.
